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Kendall JCC to check membership rolls after discovering sex offender was a member

A registered sex offender accused of attempting to kidnap a young girl was a longtime member of the community center where the incident took place.

The child, whose name has not been released, was attending a summer camp July 10 at the Dave and Mary Alper Jewish Community Center when police said Dean Beck, 39, approached and tried to drag her into the men’s restroom.

The girl screamed for help, and police officers exercising at the center’s gym responded immediately.

Ed Rosen, director of the community center at 11155 SW 112th Ave., said Beck has an intellectual disability.

“He would come to work out with his mother,” he said.

Still, it wasn’t clear how Beck — who used the center’s gym facility and participated in a special needs program — was allowed to obtain membership.

Records show that Beck was arrested in 2002 on charges of possession of child pornography, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Rosen said he thought Beck joined the community center after the charges were filed, meaning he would have already had the sex offender label.

The center checks new members against sexual offender lists, he said, but Beck was not checked when he became a member.

Rosen said the center plans to recheck all current and future members against the sex offender registry and to install additional security cameras.

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